A Visual Look at Medical Cannabis is Being Overrun by Big Pharma (Facts and Figures Infographic)

• GW Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has the greatest number of CBD clinical trials registered with the FDA.
• If Big Pharma took over the cannabis industry, the public would have a broader understanding of the substance.

Medical Cannabis is Being Overrun by Big Pharma

Medical cannabis has been growing in popularity across the world, and states across the nation are creating quite new regulations that permit its. Evidence is still a little unclear, but there have been numerous studies to suggest that the substance can be used to help with many therapeutic benefits, including pain relief and soothing inflammation.

While Big Pharma has mostly stayed out of the market, primarily due to regulatory concerns, the many products coming to market are leading this sector to get involved as well. But who exactly is “Big Pharma”? Visual Capitalist created a graphic in a recent article to explain who exactly makes up this section of the industry.

According to research, CBD is capable of treating health conditions like epilepsy, schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, migraines, arthritis, and the side effects of treating cancer. At this point, there are over 30 states that have decided to legalize the substance for medical management of these conditions and other qualifying issues. As a result, studies show that the increase of cannabis as an alternative treatment method coincides with a 33% decrease in opiate-related deaths.

Realistically, is there a chance of cannabis being sold in an over-the-counter setting in pharmacies? Perhaps, but the current debate around the use of cannabis in healthcare is preventing the substance from actually moving further, due to the psychoactive ingredient THC.

At this point, there have been approximately 400 active and completed trials surrounding CBD in the whole world. The leader in these studies has been GW Pharmaceuticals Ltd. with 40 clinical trials, followed by Sanofi at 38 clinical trials. All other companies were in the single-digit numbers, but the entry of Big Pharma would do wonders for publicizing information about this type of treatment to the masses.

The missing piece of this puzzle appears to be more data, which is crucial to predicting how the market will evolve going forward. John Taenzler, Cannabis Business Executive, stated,

“When pharmaceutical companies enter the market, they will come carrying a pile of data. This will be their selling proposition – we have data backing our products.”